Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo), representing Edo North Senatorial District, has called for the review of the name of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
Mr Oshiomhole made the call on Friday in Abuja, at the unveiling of the NSCDC FCT Commandant Olusola Odumosu’s book, titled “Nigeria’s Security Dilemma: Rivalries and Implications”.
He said that the call for the change of name of the paramilitary agency was imperative in view of the word “Civil” in it, adding that it implied that personnel of the corps were not meant to bear arms.
He said that the NSCDC, saddled with the responsibility to be civil while protecting the nation’s critical national assets and infrastructure, interfaced with hardened criminals in line of duty.
The lawmaker, therefore, questioned how the operatives were expected to be civil when combating vandals, illegal miners and criminals who bear weapons.
“To be civil means you should not bear firearms, so if you do not bear arms to deal with people involved in illegal oil bunkering or destruction of public properties which you have been asked to protect, will you then preach while they carry guns?
“If you want to be civil, how do you deal with hardened criminals? If these criminals carry sophisticated weapons, you fighting them should not carry a less sophisticated weapon.
“When I see service chiefs holding meetings and I don’t see the commandant general (CG) of civil defence, I am like, There is something missing,” he said.
He noted that no single security agency could deal with insecurity both at the sub-national and national levels alone.
Mr Oshiomhole said that in tackling insecurity, it was imperative for Nigerians, including politicians and security agencies, to put aside their differences and understand Nigeria is only one.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu will continue to apply all measures necessary to ensure Nigeria is safe and insecurity reduced to the barest minimum.
The senator commended the author for speaking out through his book on how to tackle insecurity through effective synergy and communication sharing among security agencies.
“It is commendable that you put out your thoughts while in the system and not outside the system, as it is much more dangerous to speak truth to power,” he said.
Also speaking was a security expert, Tyor Terhemba, the reviewer of the book, who said that Nigeria’s security challenges called for collective efforts towards combating banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping, among other criminalities.
“This is a time to have all hands on deck to collectively fight the enemies of the state; hence, it is not a time of rivalry but to be united,” he said.
Mr Terhemba said that the book re-echoed the need for unity, synergy between security agencies, regional and international partnerships, areas of potential conflict, and the role of intelligence sharing.
According to him, it also talks about political interference, ambiguous laws, accountability, security sector reforms, communication systems, and other topics.
Meanwhile, the author, Mr Odumosu, said that the book looked at security from a holistic perspective, as there was a need for a united front.
“No one has a monopoly of wisdom or strategy, so there is a need to tackle insecurity from a common front.
“Obviously there have been issues of unhealthy inter-security agency rivalries, which have been a pain to coordinate national responses to our security challenges.
“I looked at it from the perspective where all security agencies can understand that we must have the same goal whether our mandates are interwoven or not.
“We have a collective responsibility to ensure peace and order in Nigeria,” Mr Odumosu said.
The commandant reiterated that when security agencies continue to fight each other or see one another as competitors rather than a united front, a lot of work will still need to be done.